Author: Mike Alibone

After a prolonged period of summer heat, temperatures returned to near normal this week in an almost continuous south-westerly airstream, which also brought heavy rain on 5th. Autumn migration began to gather pace.

The eclipse drake Red-crested Pochard remained at Stanwick GP until at least 8th as did the Great White Egret at Clifford Hill GP, with another reported at Pitsford Res on 6th and 7th. A juvenile Marsh Harrier appeared in at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell on 5th and may well have been the same individual seen at Harrington AF on 8th and 9th but the only other raptor of note was an Osprey at Welford Res on 7th. 

Up to four Little Ringed Plovers remained at Summer Leys LNR until at least 7th, while four Dunlin – the only record this week – visited Clifford Hill GP on 3rd and a juvenile Ruff appeared at Summer Leys on 6th. The only Black-tailed Godwit this week was one at Stanwick GP on 8th, while Common Sandpipers were recorded from the latter locality, Summer Leys and Pitsford Res and single Green Sandpipers visited Pitsford Res and Summer Leys on 6th and two were at Daventry CP the following day. Up to five Greenshanks lingered at Summer Leys between 3rd and 7th, one was at Clifford Hill on 6th with seven there on 8th and three visited Stanwick GP on the same date, while the first Turnstone of the autumn was mobile around the yacht club at Pitsford Res on 9th.

Good numbers of Yellow-legged Gulls remained at Stanwick GP throughout the week with maxima of thirty plus on 5th and seventeen there on 8th; elsewhere single adults

Juvenile Yellow-legged Gull, Stanwick GP, 4th August 2013 (Mike Alibone). A typical individual with a ghosted Mediterranean Gull-like eye-mask and a clean white belly. 

Adult Yellow-legged Gull, Stanwick GP, 4th August 2013 (Mike Alibone) 

were at Pitsford Res on 3rd, 4th, 8th and 9th with six there in the gull roost on 7th and two at Clifford Hill GP on the same date. An adult Mediterranean Gull was also at Stanwick GP on 5th and a second-summer visited Daventry CP on 7th. Single Common Redstarts were found at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell on 3rd and at Harrington AF on 8th and also Whinchats visited both these localities with, at the former locality, four on 7th and 3 on 9th and two at the latter on 8th when two were also found in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton.  Two Crossbills were near the entrance to Harlestone Heath on 6th and two flew north-west over Harrington AF the following day.

Temperatures remained relatively high and heavy showers hit the County on 27th and 29th, causing water levels to rise slightly at local bodies of water. With migration now well under way, a number of interesting visitors were discovered as the week progressed.

Last week’s eclipse drake Mandarin Duck was still at Ravensthorpe Res on 29th and single summering drake Wigeon remained at nearby Hollowell Res and at Clifford Hill GP on the same date with four at Summer Leys LNR on 28th.  The eclipse drake Red-crested Pochard remained at Stanwick GP also until 29th and a Goldeneye was found at Pitsford Res the following day.

In what has turned out to be a very poor summer for Quail one – the second only this year – was singing near Ashton Wold on 27th. By contrast, however, in a good year for Great White Egrets, one was found at Clifford Hill GP on 27th and remained there all week, frequenting the grassy peninsular at the western end of the main barrage lake.

Another ‘Black Kite’ was reported, this time drifting over the A14 near Cranford St John on 28th and the only other notable raptors were an Osprey in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton on 29th and a Peregrine at Summer Leys on 28th.

Little Ringed Plovers were recorded at Summer Leys, where up to four remained all week, while four Dunlin were also at Summer Leys on 27th with singles there on 30th and 2nd, one was at Pitsford Res on 28th and six at Clifford Hill GP on 31st. Summer Leys produced the only Black-tailed Godwits of the week with nine on 27th-28th and five on 2nd, a Whimbrel went through at Stanwick GP on 30th, while Common Sandpipers were recorded from Clifford Hill GP, Stanwick GP, Summer Leys, Hollowell Res and Pitsford Res, with a maximum of three or four at the latter site on 30th and four at Summer Leys the following day. In contrast to last week, only two Green Sandpipers were found, with singles at Summer Leys and Stanwick GP on 31st and one again at Summer Leys on 2nd and a single Greenshank remained at Summer Leys from 30th until the week’s end, the same locality producing the autumn’s first Wood Sandpipers with up to two there intermittently between 29th and 2nd.

The late summer build-up of Yellow-legged Gulls continued with daily records from Stanwick GP, where there was a maximum of thirty-five on 30th, one was at Clifford Hill GP and four or five were at Pitsford Res on the same date with one there the following day. An adult Caspian Gull also visited Stanwick GP on 30th and the same site hosted an adult and a juvenile Mediterranean Gull on 29th, the juvenile remaining until 1st.

Juvenile Mediterranean Gull, Stanwick GP, 1st August 2013 (Mike Alibone). Click on the cogwheel and select 720p to view in HD.

Passerine migrants were in short supply this week with just a Common Redstart along the old railway line at Summer Leys on 31st, a Whinchat at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell on 2nd and two small parties of Crossbills totalling at least nine individuals flying south-west over Pitsford Res on 27th with four more over Bucknell Wood on 1st.

Nineteen consecutive days of temperatures exceeding 28°C (recorded somewhere in the UK) made this the hottest summer so far this century and up to 34°C was recorded locally on 22nd. Subsequent to this, the weather broke down somewhat with isolated heavy showers and thunderstorms during the latter part of the week. Reservoir water levels remain disappointingly high, providing little in the way of attractive habitat for the migrant waders which have recently started to come through the county.

An eclipse drake Mandarin Duck visited Ravensthorpe Res on 23rd, the summering drake Wigeon remained at Hollowell Res until at least 25th, single Garganeys were at Stanwick GP on 20th and Summer Leys LNR on 21st and an eclipse drake Red-crested Pochard remained at Stanwick GP between 24th and 26th. For the second week running Daventry CP produced a flock of Common Scoters with five, including four drakes, there on 22nd.

The only raptors of note this week were single Ospreys at Stanford Res on 20th and in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton the following day, while a female Peregrine visited Summer Leys, also on 21st.

Little Ringed Plovers were recorded from Hollowell Res, Stanwick GP and Summer Leys, a migrant Ringed Plover was found at Stanwick GP on 26th and a Dunlin also at Stanwick GP on 20th. The first Common Snipe of the autumn – four – were at Summer Leys on 23rd and 24th, a Black-tailed Godwit visited nearby Earls Barton GP on 21st and twelve were at Summer Leys on 26th, while Common Sandpipers were recorded from Ditchford GP (Broadholme STW), Stanwick GP, Summer Leys, Hollowell Res, Stanford Res and Pitsford Res with a maximum of six at the latter site on 26th. Green Sandpipers, too, were found at more localities than last week with Pitsford Res, Ditchford GP, Summer Leys, Earls Barton GP and Stanwick GP all producing this species with a maximum of four at the last named of these sites on 26th. Single Greenshanks visited both Thrapston GP and Daventry CP on 20th, Hollowell Res on 23rd and Stanwick GP on 24th.

Stanwick also produced an adult Caspian Gull on the evening of 23rd, along with 26 Yellow-legged Gulls on the same date and eleven there on 26th. Another Yellow-legged Gull visited Hollowell Res on 23rd and three more were in the Pitsford Res gull roost on 26th. Last week’s adult Black Tern began to moult into winter plumage before it was last

seen on 21st. The national Crossbill influx became more evident this week with at least twelve at Sulby on 20th, six at Summer Leys and five west over Langlands, Northampton – all on 20th – and up to six at Harlestone Heath and four south over Pitsford Res on 22nd.

The virtually stationary high pressure system remained over the UK throughout the week, temperatures rose to above 30°C and migrants became more in evidence as the week progressed.

Summering Wigeon were found at Pitsford Res on 14th, Summer Leys (four) on 15th and at Blatherwycke Lake on 17th while a Garganey was again at Summer Leys LNR on 14th with two eclipse drakes there on 19th, and a female Red-crested Pochard was at Pitsford Res on 14th. Thirteen Common Scoters, including eight drakes, visited Daventry CP on 15th, being rather mobile around the site during their brief stay. The autumn’s first Dunlin was at Thrapston GP on 13th and an islandica Black-tailed Godwit visited Boddington Res the following day, up to four Green Sandpipers were at Daventry CP during the week, a Common Sandpiper was there on 15th and the same site hosted a Greenshank at the same time and a first-summer Yellow-legged Gull on 19th; another first-summer was also off the dam at Pitsford Res on the same date, while another Greenshank was found at Thrapston GP on 13th. Last week’s adult Black Tern continued its stay at Summer Leys throughout the period and two juvenile Common Redstarts were at the same site on 14th and another visited Harrington AF on 18th. A Siskin was at Fermyn Wood on 17th, where there was also a Crossbill on the same date, when several were also in nearby Souther Wood and twelve were at Denton Wood on 19th.

A high pressure system remained in position over the UK throughout the week, ensuring the continuing run of warm, dry conditions. A trickle of migrants hinted that autumn was underway … just.

A drake Wigeon was unusual at Hollowell Res on 11th and a Mandarin Duck visited nearby Ravensthorpe Res on 10th, the same day that a Garganey was found at Summer Leys LNR, where there was also a Goldeneye on 7th. An Osprey flew west at Pitsford Res on 6th and it, or another, flew east over Blueberry Farm, Maidwell on 8th  but the only other raptor of note was a Peregrine in Northampton on 10th. Summer Leys played host to a number of transient Black-tailed Godwits with singles on 7th and 12th, 7 on 8th

Six Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits Limosa limosa islandica, Summer Leys LNR, 10th July 2013 (Mike Alibone). Present in the wader bay and videoscoped from Pioneer Hide. The individual spending most of its time at the right hand end of the group is a female. Larger, longer billed, less extensively coloured underparts and less boldly patterned upperparts may invite confusion with Continental Black-tailed Godwit L. l. limosa, which is much less frequently encountered in Northamptonshire.

and 6 on 10th and a Green Sandpiper visited Daventry CP on 9th, the same site hosting a Greenshank on 10th and 11th while another was at Summer Leys on 7th. Loafing summer larids at Stanwick GP on 11th included a Common Gull and seventeen Yellow-legged Gulls while a first-summer Little Gull visited Daventry CP on 9th and the first Black Tern of the ‘autumn’ was at Summer Leys on 12th. Several Crossbills were mobile around Bucknell Wood on 6th.

A largely dry and settled week with the highest temperatures of the year to date brought little in the way of new birds to the County, apart from a last-minute flyover White Stork …

A White Stork flying high over Sywell Airfield at 16.30 on 5th was seen by just one lucky observer. Otherwise, a Peregrine drifted over Geddington on 29th, four Black-tailed Godwits visited Summer Leys on the same day and another was there on 4th while a Greenshank – the first of the autumn – was at Thrapston GP on 29th.  The only other passage waders were species only to be expected with a Green Sandpiper at Thrapston GP on 30th and two at Stanwick GP on 2nd and a Common Sandpiper there on the same date along with four Yellow-legged Gulls.

An unseasonally blustery start to the week gave way to a mixed bag of weather including sunshine and showers, the latter from moisture-heavy air emanating from the western Atlantic at the week’s end. Local birding was unsurprisingly slow.

A male Marsh Harrier flying east over the A14/A6 Junction at Rothwell on 27th, an Osprey fishing at Welford Res on 24th and two Peregrines at a site in the north of the County were the only raptors of note this week. Single Black-tailed Godwits visited Stanwick GP on 22nd, Hollowell Res on 23rd, Clifford Hill GP on 25th and Summer Leys LNR on 28th and the only other passage waders during the period were a Curlew at Stanwick GP on 28th and two Green Sandpipers there on 22nd with one there again on 24th. Between three hundred and four hundred loafing large gulls were at the latter site in the early part of the week, being joined there by a near-adult Caspian Gull, up to eight Yellow-legged Gulls and an out of season Common Gull on 24th-25th with four Yellow-legged Gulls there again on 28th. Similarly unseasonal was a Siskin, again at Stanwick, on 25th and two juveniles – perhaps indicative of local breeding – on a garden feeder at Old Stratford on 26th.

The weather was mixed with variable light winds as we entered a lean week in which potential headline birds came no closer than being possibles or near misses.

Two Garganeys were present at Summer Leys LNR on 18th while the drake Red-crested Pochard remained there until at least 16th. A Black Kite drifting west over Peterborough early in the evening of 16th was clearly destined not to be found in Northants, or was it? A report of a ‘possible’ over Broughton early the next day was not positively identified by the observer and a ‘ninety-nine percenter’ was (back?) in the Peterborough area, at Norman Cross – just 5 km east of the Northants county border – early on 18th. While hopeful of connecting with the Peterborough Black Kite over Irthlingborough on 16th, one optimistic sky-scanner picked up what was most likely a female Red-footed Falcon heading high north-west but this, too, looks like being another one that got away …  A reminder that autumn is just around the corner came in the shape of Green Sandpipers at Summer Leys on 18th and at Stanwick GP on 19th, while single Curlews visited Clifford Hill GP on 17th and Chacombe on 18th and four were found at a suitable breeding site on the first of these two dates.